HANOI: Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has issued a dispatch urging ministries, agencies and coastal localities to adopt the highest level of response as the tropical storm Koto approaches, the Vietnam News Agency reported Thursday (Nov 27).
Vietnam has mobilised 267,335 military personnel and 6,684 vehicles to stand ready for search and rescue operations as Koto approaches, said the report.
The forces have coordinated with local authorities to evacuate residents from high-risk areas to safer locations, it added.
Coastal localities from Da Nang to Ca Mau have informed and guided more than 49,200 vessels and 272,098 fishermen about Koto's developments.
The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said Koto was located about 180 km north of Southwest Cay Island as of 7 a.m. Thursday, moving west-northwest at 10 to 15 km per hour.
Meteorological experts noted that the typhoon's path and intensity remain unstable, local daily Voice of Vietnam reported.
While it is more likely to change direction and weaken offshore, the possibility of it heading straight into Vietnam's central region cannot be ruled out. - Xinhua
